Label printer



Jan. 30, 1968 A. R. BONE 3,366,050

LABEL PRINTER Filed Sept. 20, 1965 ts sheets-sheet 1 J7 Jazz elude? A. R. BONE LABEL PRINTER Jan. 30, 1968 Filed Sept. 20, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 30, 1968 A. R. BONE 7 3,366,050

LABEL PRINTER Filed Sept. 20, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet a United States Patent 3,366,050 LABEL PRINTER Arnold R. Bone, Needham, Mass., assignor to Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham, Mass., 21 corporation of Nevada Filed Sept. 20, 1965, Ser. No. 488,462 4 Claims. (Cl. 101--292) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus comprising a printing head having backward and forward movement between printing and retracted position, the head carrying resettable type, and means responsive to the backward movement for holding the head against movement while the type is being set.

This invention relates to printers of the type having a platen and a printing head movable back and forth between the platen and a retracted position, with means for feeding articles to be printed, such as tags or labels, to the platen between printing operations. More particularly the invention relates to dial-set printers in which the type is carried on coaxial wheels or belts trained over coaxial wheels with means for turning the wheels selectively to set the type as desired. In such printers it is desirable to set the type while the head is in retracted position and to hold the head in fixed position while setting the type.

Objects of the present invention are to provide a printer which is simple and economical to produce, which holds the head in fixed position while being reset, and which is convenient in operation.

According to this invention the printer comprises motive means having forward movement for moving the printing head back and forth between the platen and a retracted position, a stop for holding the printing head in said position, the stop being movable between operative and inoperative position, and means for holding the stop in inoperative position during said forward movement. Preferably the motive means comprises a crank arm in the form of an eccentric which approaches deadcenter position as the printing head approaches retracted position, and a stop for preventing backward movement of the crank arm from retracted position. In the preferred embodiment the printer has means for holding the stop in inoperative position during said forward movement, and means responsive to said forward movement for causing said stop to move from operative to inoperative position, said last means being responsive to backward movement of the motive means to move the stop from inoperative to operative position.

In a more specific aspect the aforesaid motive means comprises a rotor, a shoulder on one side of the rotor, said stop having movement transversely of the rotor from an inoperative position out of the path of said shoulder to an operative position in said path, a cam actuated by said rotor for producing said movement, a shaft for said rotor and a cam follower on the shaft, said cam being mounted on the shaft to slide longitudinally of the shaft and to rotate circumferentially of the shaft, the cam surface inclining toward the rotor in the direction of forwardmovement of the rotor, an abutment at the for-ward end of said cam surface in the path of said cam follower so that the cam turns with the rotor when the follower reaches the abutment, means yieldingly urging the stop into said path, means frictionally holding the cam against backward rotation on the shaft so that, when the rotor is reversed, the follower moves rearwardly along the cam surface, thereby permitting said stop to move into the path of said shoulder.

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For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a side view with the printing head in printing position;

FIG. 2 is a similar view with the printing head in retracted position;

FIG. 3 is a section on line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section on line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a section on line 5--5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a view of the printing head opposite to the side shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration comprises a hollow frame 1 containing a roll of tag stock T which feeds over a roller 2 by means of a feed pawl 3 to a plate-n 4 where each successive tag is printed by a printing head 6 which moves back and forth between the printing position shown in FIG. 1 and a retracted position slightly beyond the position shown in FIG. 2. The printing head is mounted on a slide 7 actuated by an eccentric 8 connected to the slide by a pivot pin 9. The eccentric comprises a disk 10 secured to one side of a gear 11 by means of screws 12, the center of the disk being located at 13 off-center from the shaft 14 of the gear 11. The gear 111 is driven by a rotor in the form of a gear 16 on shaft 17 which is actuated by a crank arm :18 having a handle 19. The feed pawl 3 is actuated by an arm 21 pivoted to the frame at 22 and connected to the eccentric by a link 23.

As shown in FIG. 7 the printing head] 6 contains the dial set wheels 24 actuated by knobs 26 and idler pulleys 27 at the lower end of the head. Trained over the wheels and pulleys are belts carrying the printing type in wellknown manner as shown for example in Ser. No. 460,342, filed June 1, 1965. A printing chase 28 may be mounted adjacent the pulleys 27. Mounted on the back of the slide 7 is a bracket 29 on which is hinged a bracket 31 carrying inking pads 32 and 33 for the belts and chase respectively, the pads swinging between the inking position shown in FIG. 7 to the retracted position shown in FIG. 1. The pads contact the type when the eccentric reaches dead-center position, slightly beyond the position shown in FIG. 2. The pads are yieldingly urged toward inking position by a spring 34 and are retracted by an arm 36 carrying a cam follower 3'7 riding on cam 38. A counter 39 is actuated by the bracket 29 through a hook 41 and arm 42.

In accordance with the present invention the rotor 16 is provided with a shoulder in the form of a pin 43 and a stop 44 is pivotally mounted at 46 to swing from the inoperative position shown in FIG. 4 out of the path of the pin 43 to the operative position shown in FIG. 6 in which backward movement of the rotor 16 brings the pin against the stop 44 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, thereby blocking further retrograde movement of the rotor. The pin 43 is so located on the rotor 116 that the eccentric 8 is approaching dead-center when the pin engages the stop. Thus pressure on the printing head when in the retracted position shown in FIG. 2 merely presses the pin 43 against the stop 44.

The stop 44 is controlled by a spherical cam 47 having a cam surface 48 which inclines toward the rotor 16 in the direction of forward movement of the rotor. The cam 47 is slidably and rotatably mounted on the shaft 17 and has abutments 51 and 52 at the forward and rearward ends of the surface 48 to limit the relative rotary movement of the shaft and cam. The cam actuates a fork 53 mounted on the stop by means of a bayonet joint 54. At their upper ends the fingers 56 and 57 of the fork have spherical recesses to fit the opposite sides of the cam 47 and the fingers are resilient frictionally to grip the cam. The stop 44 and fork 53 are yieldingly urged toward the rotor 16 by means of a spring 58.

When the rotor is locked against retrograde movement as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 the pin 43 bears against the rearward abutment 52. When the rotor is started forwardly the cam follower 45 rides over the surface 48 from the rear abutment 52 to the forward abutment 51, the spring fingers 56 and 57 frictionally holding the cam from rotation with the shaft. During this movement of the follower the stop 44 and the fork 53 are shifted from the locking position shown in FIGS. and 6 to the inoperative position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. When the machine is stopped to reset the type or otherwise work on the printing head the rotor 16 is turned rearwardly. This causes the cam follower 45 to ride over the surface 48 from the forward abutment 51 to the rearward abutment 52, thereby permitting the spring 58 to move the stop 44 into the path of the pin 43. Thus the rotor is locked against retrograde movement when the eccentric is in the position shown in FIG. 2, short of dead-center position, and the printing head is thus held in fixed position while being worked on.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A printer comprising a platen, a printing head, motive means having forward and backward movement for moving the printing head back and forth relatively to the platen between printing position and a retracted position, a shoulder on the motive means, a stop movable into the path of said shoulder for holding the printing head in said retracted position against backward movement, and means for holding said stop out of said path during said forward movement.

2. A printer according to claim 1 further characterized by means responsive to said forward movement for causing said stop to move out of said path.

3. A printer according to claim 4 wherein said last means is responsive to said backward movement to move the stop into said path.

4. A printer according to claim 1 further characterized in that said motive means comprises a rotor, a shaft for said rotor, a cam actuated by the rotor and a cam follower on the shaft, said cam being mounted on the shaft to slide longitudinally of the shaft and to rotate circumferentially of the shaft, the cam surface inclining toward the rotor in the direction of forward movement of the rotor, an abutment at the forward end of said cam surface in the path of said cam follower so that the cam turns with the rotor when the follower reaches the abutment, means yieldingly urging the stop into the path of said shoulder, means frictionally holding the cam against backward rotation on the shaft so that, when the rotor is reversed, the follower moves rearwardly along the cam surface, thereby permitting said stop to move into the ath of said shoulder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 956,476 4/1910 Buck 10*1109 1,397,866 11/1921 James 8882.74 2,108,850 2/1938 Fromm 101316 OTHER REFERENCES Hack, Robert C. 1-1.: Mechanics of Machinery-Mechanism 1st ed., McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1923, pp. -111.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

F. A. WINANS, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,366,050 January 30, 1968 Arnold R. Bone It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 4, line 4, for the claim reference numeral "4" read 2 Signed and sealed this 13th day of May 1969.

(SEAL) Attest: Z

Edward M. Fletcher, J r.

Attesting Officer Commissioner f Patents 

